Edge-gage mechanism.



J. SMITH.

EDGE GAGE MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 10. 1916.

1 ,220, 1 37a Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

JOHN SMITH, OF SWAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOE MACHIN- ERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

EDGE-GAGE MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

Application filed March 10, 1916. Serial No. 83,347.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Swampscott, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Edge-Gage Mechanism; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to machines for operating upon leather, and more particularly to edge gage mechanisms for determining the distance of the point of operation of the operating mechanism from the edge of the work.

The objects of the present invention are to improve the construction and mode of operation of edge gage mechanisms, and to produce an edge gage mechanism of simplition of the machine to locate the same in either of two or more predetermined positio'ns to vary the distance of the point of operation of the operating mechanism from the edge of the work, and in which the gage, when located in any one of such positions, will be securely. held from displacement by the pressure of the work against the gage.

With these objects in view the invention consists in the novel and improved constructions, arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the advantages of which will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the illustrated embodiment of the in vention the edge gage mechanism is shown as applied to a shoe sewing machine for sewing soles to the uppers of shoes. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited in its application to a shoe or other leather sewing machine, but that it may be employed with advantage in machines for performing various operations upon leather.

In the drawings illustrating the invention in its preferred form, Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a portion of a shoe sewing machine with the invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a detail plan view illustrating the presser foot of the machine detached from the machine and the edge gage mechanism carried thereby; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating certain of the parts in different positions; and Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. p The shoe sewing machine illustrated in the drawings is a machine of the so-called McKay type for sewing soles to the uppers of McKay shoes. The machine comprises a vertically reciprocating straight hook needle indicated at 2, and devices cooperating therewith to form a chain stitch seam, a rotatable work supporting horn 4 arranged to extend within the shoe so as to support the bottom portion of the shoe on its upper surface, a presser foot 6 arranged to engage the outer face of the sole of the shoe, and a feed point or awl 8 for feeding the work. The presser foot is mounted on a presser bar 10 which is lifted to raise the presser foot from the born to permit the work to be fed during each cycle of operations. These parts have substantially the same construction, arrangement and mode of operation as the corresponding parts of the machine illustrated in the application of William C. Meyer, Serial No. 781,785, filed July 29, 1913.

In one class of McKay shoes an intermediate sole is sewed to the upper and insole by stitches passing through the intermediate sole, the upper and insole to the inside of the intermediate sole, thereby making a shoe which resembles in its outward appearance shoes of the so-called Goodyear or welted shoe type. Such shoes are usually made to resemble as closely as possible shoes of the Goodyear type. In a Goodyear shoe the width of the projecting edge of the sole is ordinarily greater about the forepart of the shoe than along the shank, and it is therefore desirable that in a McKay shoe of this class the margin of the intermediate sole, after being sewn to the upper and insole, should project farther beyond the upper about the forepart of the shoe than along the shank. This result is secured by forming the stitches by which the intermediate sole is attached to the upper and insole closer to the projecting edge of the sole when sewing along the shank than when sewing about the forepart, and in the present embodiment of passes.

the invention the edge gage mechanism is especially constructed and arranged for use in sewing the intermediate sole of this class of McKay shoe to the upper and insole.

In the construction illustrated the edge gage mechanism is mounted on the presser foot, and the edge gage extends downwardly therefrom into position toengage the edge of a sole applied to the shoe bottom of a shoe placed upon the work supporting horn 4c. The presser foot 6 is formed with an enlargement 12 which constitutes a'support for the edge gage and its operating mechanism. The edge gage consists of a roll 14 jounnaled on a stud 16 adjustably mounted in a slot 18 in the support 12, this slot extending substantially at right angles to the needle and awl slot 20 in the presser foot, or to the line of feed of the machine. The edge gage rollis mounted loosely upon a head formed at the lower end of the stud 16, and the stud is supported so that the edge gage roll lies just below the lower surface of the presser foot in position to engage the edge of the sole. The edge gage is adjusted to vary the distance of the line of the seam from the projecting edge of the sole by adjusting the stud 16 in the slot 18. The edge gage is adjusted by means of a lever 22 mounted upon a stud 24 andhaving a slot 26 through which the stud 16 The stud 16 is surrounded by a bushing 28 loosely mounted on the stud between the head and the upper end thereofand having a flange 30 at its lower end engaging in a widened portion of the slot 18, and a cylindrical body extending from the flange 30 upwardly through the upper part of the slot 18 and through the slot 26. The stud 16, the bushing 28, and the guide roll 14, are held in place in the slots 26 and 18 by a washer 32 engaging a shoulder 34 formed on the upper end of the stud 16, and a nut 36 threaded on the upper end of the stud to hold the washer against the shoulder. The bushing 28 has quite an extended bearing against the sides of the slot 18, and the engagement of the upper face of the flange 30 with the lower or horizontal face of the shoulder formed between the wider portion of the slot and the narrower portion thereof enables the bushing and the roll carrying stud to be moved longitudinally of the slot by the action of the lever 22 without any objectionable cramping or binding of the bushing in the slot. This bushing being loose on the stud 16 acts also as an anti-friction roll to diminish the friction between the parts as the lever-22 is actuated to adjust the bushing and gage roll stud.

The slot in the lever 22 is constructed particularly to enable the edge gage roll to be located in either of two predetermined positions with relation to the line of operation of the stitch forming mechanism of the machine, or at either of two predetermined distances from this line, the roll being located in one position when operating along the shank of the shoe, and in the other position farther from this line when operating about the forepart. The slot in the lever 22 is constructed for the greater portion of its length eccentric to the direction or are of movement of the lever, so that the bushing 28 is moved longitudinally of the slot 18 by the turning movement of the lever on its axis. The slot 26 as shown in Figs. 2 and ,3 is constructed with its forward end considering the direction of feed nearer to the axis of the lever 22 than its rear end. The forward portion of the slot is eccentric to the direction or are of movement of the lever, but the rear portion of the slot is concentric or nearly so to the said are. The difference between the distance of the forward end of the slot and the rear end of the slot from the axis of the lever is chosen so as to give the proper difference between the distances of the line of the seam from the edge of the sole along the shank of the shoe and about the forepart corresponding to the difference in the distances which the edge of a Goodyear shoe projects beyond the upper at these points. The lever 22 is provided with an operating handle 38 for manipulation by the operator to turn the lever on its axis to adjust the gage roll.

When the machine is operating along the shank of a shoe at the beginning of the sewing operation, the lever 22 is adjusted to locate the bushing 28 and the roll carrying stud 16 in the rear end of the slot 26, as shown in Fig. 3, the end of the slot forming a stop to determine the position of the gage roll. The seam is then formed at a certain distance from the edge of the sole, determined by the position of the gage roll. When the machine arrives at the forepart, the operator shifts the lever22 to locate the-bushing 28 and the roll carrying stud in the forward end of the slot 26, thus moving the gage roll away from the line of feed, its final position being determined by the engagement of the bushing 28 with the forward end of the slot 26 which acts as a gage positioning stop. The gage roll is then located in a position suitable for the formation of the stitches about the forepart of a shoe sole at the proper distance from the sole edge, this distance being usually about of an inch greater than the distance of the stitches along the shank from the edge of the sole. In passing from the forepart upon the opposite side of the sole to the shank, the operator shifts the lever 22 in the opposite direction to restore the bushing 28 and the roll carrying stud to their initial positions in the rear end of the slot 26. When sewing along the shank of the sole the gage roll is securely held from displacement by the pressure of the sole against the gage by reason of the formation of the rear end of the slot 26 substantially concentric with the direction or are of movement of the lever 22.- The gage roll may of course be located in a position intermediate the limiting positions determined by the ends of the slot 26 by a proper adjustment of the lever 22.

Shoes, the soles of which have projecting operator should be able to vary correspond ingly the distance which the sole projects beyond the upper about the forepart of the sole and along the. shank in sewing different lots of shoes.- T 0 enable this result to be secured the lever 22 is mounted for adjustment toward and from the line of operation to,

vary the limiting positions of the gage roll 14 with relation to this line. In the construetion shown the stud 24 upon which the lever 22 is mounted is secured in the slot 18 and is arranged for adjustment longitudinally of the slot. Thedower end of the stud is formed with a shouldered head which fits in the slot, as shown in Fig. 4. The lever 22 is pivoted upon a bushing 40 mounted on the upper end of the stud 24 and resting upon the upper surface of the gage support 12,.and the lever is held in place on the stud by means of a washer 42 engaging the upper surface of the bushing and projecting beyond the bushing. The

stud 24 is secured in the slot 18 and the bush-.

ing 40 is firmly clamped between the washer 42 and the upper surface of the support 12 by a nut 44 threaded on the upper end of the stud. The bushing 40 is made somewhat thicker than the adjacent portion of the lever 22 so that the lever can turn freely on the bushing. After the nut 44 is loosened the which time the feed point is advanced to.

feed the work, the work being lifted from the horn by the pull of the needle upon the thread. In order to assist in lifting the work from the horn, and to prevent the gage roll from being disengaged from the edge of the sole as the presser-foot is lifted, the roll is formed with a laterally projecting flange 46 arranged to engage beneath the edge of the sole. As the presser foot is lifted, this flange engaging beneath the edge of the sole has a lifting action upon the sole.

It will be noted that the above described edge gage mechanism is simple in construction and inexpensive to manufacture, that it may be readily applied to existing machines, that the adjustment of the gage to locate the same in either of the predetermined positions is easily and conveniently made during the sewing operation, and that the gage is securely held from displacement after it is adjusted.

Having explained the nature and object of the'invention, and having specifically described a mechanism embodying the invention in its preferred form, what is claimed 1s:

1. A machine for operating on leather, having, in combination, means for operating on the work, an edge gage for determining the distance of the point of operation of the operating mechanism from the edge of the work, an edge gage support having a slot, a movable operating member for the direction of movement of the operating member, and an edge gage carrier stud extending through the slots in the edge gage. support and in the operating member.

2. A machine for operating on leather, having, in combination, means for operating on the work, an edge gage for determming the distance of the point of operation of the operating mechanism from the edge of'the work, an edge gage support having a slot, a pivoted operating member for the gage having an eccentric slot extending across the slot in the edge gage support, and an edge gage carrier stud extending through the slots in the edge gage support and in the operating member.

3. A machine for operating on leather,

-having, in combination, means for operating on the work, an edge gage for determining the distance of the point of operation from the edge of the-work, an edge gage support having'a slot, a movable operatlng member having a slot arranged transversely to the slot in the edge gage support and to the direction of movement of the operat ng member, an edge gage carrier stud extending through the slots in the edge gage support and in the operating member, stops for limiting the movement of the operating member to determine the limiting positions of the gage, and means whereby the limiting positions of the gage as determined by the stops may be adjusted. v

4. A'machine for operating on leather, having, in combination, means for o e on the work, an edge gage for determining the distance of the point of operation from the edge of the work, an edge gage support having a slot, a pivoted operating membe for the gage having an eccentric slot extending transversely to the slotin the edge gage support, an edge gage carrier stud extending through the slots in the edge gage support and in the operating member, and a pivot stud for said member adjustably mounted in the slot in the edge gage support. 5. A machine for operating on leather,

having, in combination, means for operating on the Work, an edge gage for determining the distance of the point of operation from the edge of the work, an edge gage support having a slot extending transversely -to the line of feed, a pivoted operating member for the gage having an eccentric slot extending transversely to the slot in the edge gage support, an edge gage carrier stud extending through the slots in the edgegage support and in the operatingmember, and means whereby the axis of the operating member may be adjusted toward and from the point of operation.

6. A machine for operating on leather, having, in combination, means for operating uponthe Work, an edge gage for determining the distance of the point of operation from the edge of the ivork, anedge gage support upon Which the edge gage is adjustably mounted, a pivoted operating member forthe edge gage having a slot one end of p the edge gage.

which is concentric With the are of movement of said member, and the other of which is eccentric thereto, and a stud engaging in 2 the slot in said member and connected with 7. A machine for operating on leather, having, in combination, means for operating on the Work, an edge gage for determining 3 the distance of the point-of operation from the edge of the Work, an edge gage support having a slot, amovable operating mem, ber having a slot arranged transversely to the slot in the edge gage support and to the 3 direction of movement of the operating member, an edge gage carrier stud extending through the slots in the edge gage sup port and in the operating member. and means wherebytll operating member may 4 be adjusted toward and fro the point of operation. a

JOHN SMITH. 

